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"In His law he meditates day and night" Psalm 1:2
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Campbell's Communion Coin Cast
Volume 13, Number 6
Wayne Burger |
May 25, 2008 |
Meditating on the Word
"In His law he meditates day and night" Psalm 1:2
"Meditating on the Word," edited by Wayne Burger, is a work of the Columbine church of Christ, 7453 S. Zephyr Ct., Littleton, Colorado, 80128. E-mail: burgpreach@prolynx.com -- Suggested topics are welcomed.
Vol. 13 No. 6 May 25, 2008
Campbell's Communion
Coin Cast
What is a Communion Token, and what role does it play in the thinking that led to the American Restoration Movement? To discern the answers we must cross the Atlantic Ocean and go back in time almost two centuries. It was May, 1809 in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. A young man of only 21 years, a student at the University of Glasgow, was about to make one of the most important decisions of his life. Indeed, his life would forever be changed, and the impact of this decision upon church history would be enormous. But, we're getting ahead of ourselves. We need to get back to the question: what exactly is a Communion Token (an early sample of which is pictured here)?
According to the web site of the Hunterian Museum, which is affiliated with the University of Glasgow, "A Communion Token is a simple metal ticket which permitted the holder to partake of Communion in the Church of Scotland and other Presbyterian Churches." Such a token or coin might seem rather strange to many, especially to those who practice a more "open communion." However, in centuries past, especially among certain religions, communion was very restricted. Only those "approved" by the clergy were allowed to consume the bread and wine. To be admitted to the Lord's Table, one must "pass examination" of the ministers and elders of the church. Those who passed were issued tokens which allowed them to eat the elements of the Lord's Supper. Those not approved by the clergy were banned from the observance. "The communion service was a special occasion, held perhaps only once or twice a year. Shortly before the Sacrament was celebrated individuals were examined by the minister to ensure that they understood and practiced the basics of their religion and led good lives. If an individual was found worthy, he or she was given a token which admitted them to the Sacrament" (Hunterian Museum web site). The goal of the token, therefore, was to carefully protect the Lord's Table from profanation by "the unfaithful." It was a part of a broader system of church discipline and control.
• "Through bestowing tokens, congregations acquired their own private 'Book of Life,' because the token, as well as safeguarding the right to take communion, also endorsed a member as a bone fide Christian" (W.A. Such, Restoration Quarterly, vol. 37, no. 3, 1995). Thus, being awarded a communion token was considered virtually essential to one's salvation; to be forbidden a token by the clergy was tantamount to being labeled an apostate. In time, these tokens came to be regarded as "quasi-sacred objects" (ibid). Some church members even requested they be buried with their most recent token, perhaps thinking they could present it to St. Peter at the "pearly gate" as a ticket or pass into Heaven.
These tokens came in various sizes and shapes, and were made of several different substances. The earliest ones were fairly crude in form, and were little more than beaten flat lumps of metal. In time, they took on more artful designs. Most ranged in size from dime-size to quarter-size, although some were as large as silver dollars. Almost all the early tokens were made of either lead or pewter, but more modern tokens have been made of aluminum, tin, brass, zinc, copper, silver, wood, leather, and ivory. The early tokens had only a few letters stamped upon them, usually identifying the church which issued them. In addition, some would also stamp the name of the town and the minister of the issuing church. Later tokens included Bible verses (over 90 different verses have been documented) and engravings (such as a view of the church building or the town). Most were either round, square, oblong, oval or heart shaped. Communion tokens have been used in Great Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Italy, Africa, India, South America, West Indies, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA. However, it was in the Presbyterian Churches of Scotland that communion tokens were most widely used. Indeed, over 7000 different types of these tokens have been found and preserved just in Scotland alone.
• "John Calvin first recommended communion tokens with the intent that no unworthy person would be admitted to the communion service. They were first used in the Reformed Church of France in the year 1560. The Dutch used tokens in Amsterdam as early as 1586. England and Ireland began to use communion tokens near the end of the 16th century when the church authorities found it useful to know who did or did not conform to the legal form of worship of the state church" (from a Presbyterian Church historical web site).
These tokens, in time, came to be regarded as the personal property of the minister of the local church. In many cases, they were stamped with his name or initials. "By the eighteenth century the minister's initials were regarded as more important than the name of the parish" (Masse, The Pewter Collector). When he moved to another location, he took his sack of tokens with him. This gave the minister, and his chosen elders, great power over the congregation (very similar to the power the priests found in the sale of indulgences, with which Martin Luther took great exception, and which helped spur on the Protestant Reformation). As previously noted, these tokens came to be regarded as holy. In fact, when it came time to make new tokens, or put the name of a new minister on these coins, the old ones were collected and either melted down or buried. They could not be left in the hands of the laity.
The use of communion tokens found its way into the United States in its early years, mostly within the Presbyterian Church. At least 24 states issued these tokens to their members, with over 400 recorded varieties in Pennsylvania alone. In South Carolina, prior to the Civil War, there were two distinct tokens issued to the Presbyterian laity: silver tokens if you were white, pewter if you were a slave. The use of such tokens to gain admittance to the communion service, however, has almost totally died out since World War I. In the few places where such is felt to be necessary, they have mostly switched to cards rather than coins. Thus, this practice is largely a thing of the past, although there is a movement within the Presbyterian Church to bring them back.
(This article was part of an article written by Al Maxey in Reflections, Issue #148, September 18, 2004 entitled “Tale of the Tossed Token – Campbell’s Cast Communion Coin”)
Alexander Campbell & Communion Coins
In September of 1807 Alexander Campbell left Ireland with his mother and siblings for America where his father was waiting for them. Soon after leaving the ship in which they were traveling wrecked off the coast of Scotland. Although no one died, it was too late in the year to continue the trip.
Since they were in Scotland, Campbell took the time to study at the University of Glasgow. During that year he also became acquainted with a restoration movement that was taking place in the Church of Scotland. Such men as Greville Ewing, James and Robert Haldane had established independent congregations which rejected infant baptism, believed in the weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper and believed that congregations should be autonomous. The truths that Campbell heard from them during the time that he was in Scotland made a deep impression on him.
As stated in the article above, when one was outside his normal “church home” he had to pass a test about his church in order to be qualified to partake of communion. Since Campbell was in Scotland rather than Ireland he had to take a test. He passed the test and was given a coin such as is pictured above. But, when it came time for him to partake of communion, he dropped his coin in the basket, turned and walked out. This was his official break with the Presbyterian Church.
Soon after that event he and the family boarded a ship for the United States. All the while he was wondering how to tell his father that he had broken with the family religion. What he didn’t know was that his father had also broken with the Presbyterian Church in the US and was wondering the same thing. When they met they rejoiced to learn that they had reached the same conclusion even though living in different parts of the world.
Now that they had broken with the Presbyterian Church, they began putting into practice the restoration principles that they had learned from their peers in Scotland and Ireland. This became “The Restoration Movement” of which we are a part. The idea of going back and restoring the church to the form it was during the first century “caught-fire” and thousands were converted to this idea. Thus, this is how the churches of Christ came to be in the Unites States.
Wayne Burger
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